William McIlvanney was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet. He was known as Gus by friends and acquaintances. McIlvanney was a champion of gritty yet poetic literature; his works Laidlaw, The Papers of Tony Veitch, and Walking Wounded are all known for their portrayal of Glasgow in the 1970s. He is regarded as "the father of Tartan Noir" and as Scotland's Camus.
Gordon Lamont Brown was a Scottish rugby union footballer. Nicknamed "Broon frae Troon", Brown is considered one of Scotland's greatest-ever rugby players. Playing as a second row forward, he was an integral part of Scotland's tight five during the early 1970s, along with Ian McLauchlan, Sandy Carmichael, Frank Laidlaw and Alastair McHarg, which became known collectively as the Mean Machine. He also represented the British and Irish Lions on three tours with distinction. Brown was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2001, which later integrated with the World Rugby Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2015. He was also an inductee to the Scottish Rugby Union Hall of Fame in 2010.
James Telfer is a Scottish former rugby union coach and player. As a player, he won 21 international caps in the amateur era, also having a career as a headmaster at Hawick High School and Galashiels Academy and Forrester High School as a chemistry teacher. With Sir Ian McGeechan he had success with both the Scotland national team and the British Lions.
Arthur Robert Smith was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played as a Wing.
Roy James Laidlaw is a former Scotland international rugby union player.
Peter Brown is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played No. 8 and Lock.
Jim Renwick is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Centre.
James Kelman is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His novel A Disaffection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. Kelman won the 1994 Booker Prize with How Late It Was, How Late. In 1998, Kelman was awarded the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award. His 2008 novel Kieron Smith, Boy won both of Scotland's principal literary awards: the Saltire Society's Book of the Year and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year.
Eric Robert Russell Linklater CBE was a Welsh-born Scottish poet, fiction writer, military historian, and travel writer. For The Wind on the Moon, a children's fantasy novel, he won the 1944 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for the year's best children's book by a British subject.
John Robin Jenkins was a Scottish writer of thirty published novels, the most celebrated being The Cone Gatherers. He also published two collections of short stories.
Roger Baird is a former Scotland international rugby union player.
John Young Rutherford is a former Scotland international rugby union player. His regular playing position was Fly half.
Cencrastus was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a lecturer in the English Department, with the express intention of perpetuating the devolution debate. It was published three times a year. Its founders were Christine Bold, John Burns, Bill Findlay, Sheila G. Hearn, Glen Murray and Raymond J. Ross. Editors included Glen Murray (1981–1982), Sheila G. Hearn (1982–1984), Geoff Parker (1984–1986) and Cairns Craig (1987). Raymond Ross was publisher and editor of the magazine for nearly 20 years (1987–2006). Latterly the magazine was published with the help of a grant from the Scottish Arts Council. It ceased publication in 2006.
Colin Thomas Deans is a former Scotland international rugby union player.
Francis Andrew Linden Laidlaw is a former Scotland international rugby union player
David Leslie is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He usually played at number eight, but occasionally at flanker. He played for Scotland 32 times between 1975 and 1985.
Norman George Robertson Mair was a Scottish international rugby union and cricket player. He later became a journalist for The Scotsman reporting on rugby and golf, and also wrote for Rugby World.
Ronnie Glasgow OBE was a Scotland international rugby union player.
Strange Loyalties is a 1991 crime novel by William McIlvanney. This book is the third in the series featuring the character Laidlaw. This series of books is recognised as the foundation of the Tartan Noir genre.
Robert Cairns Craig is a Scottish literary scholar, specialising in Scottish and modernist literature. He has been Glucksman Professor of Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen since 2005. Before that, he taught at the University of Edinburgh, serving as head of the English literature department from 1997 to 2003. He was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 2005.
